"This is not good"

Last Friday we went to Dallas to pick up some new suits I was having altered. We went to to the Church bookstore and picked up a few new books. We had a good lunch at Furr's and everything was going well. We had a good drive down and back to Paris. Then when we turned into the driveway I saw water running down the driveway and coming out of the garage. I told Virgie "This is not good", and wow was I right. When we opened the garage door a large rush of water came out like a dam had just broken. We got in the house and found water about ankle deep in the kitchen and flowing from room to room through the house. I located the leak under the sink in the kitchen and tried to turn off the valve and it did not shut off the water. I then had to go out to the meter box and dig out the valve and get the water turned off.

Well after all of that we got a plumber out and it only took him about 30 minutes to fix the problem. It was a gasket that had blown out of a fitting on the line to the faucet. Then the next contractor showed up and started pulling up carpet and placing fans all over the house to get things dried out before everything started to mold. On Saturday the contractor came back and started tearing out baseboards and cutting holes in the drywall.

Then with all the fans running you can't hear anything in the house and we have to watch out what we turn on or we will blow a breaker because of all the fans running. Virgie came to me this morning and said there was water on the floor in front of the freezer. I told her "That is not good", and what I found next was that the contractor had unplugged the freezer and did not plug it back in.

Well tomorrow I am flying to Florida to interview with Florida Power and Light and I know things are going to get better. We all have trials and we are graded on how we handle them and get through the test we have before us. Tomorrow is another day and "It will be good".

Looking for a lost Senior

Yesterday I spent all day in the rain helping search for a 71 year old lady who has Alzheimer's and wandered away from her home. This was the third day for the search and the only thing they have found so far were her shoes. The bloodhounds picked up a scent and followed it down a road to a bridge where it was lost again. It has been raining for several days and the creeks are out of their banks. This is not a good situation, and we may not find out anything about this lady until the water goes down. Hopefully there will be a positive out come.

We rode our 4 wheelers as much as we could and the areas that were too dense were worked by foot. As I participated in this search I could not help but reflect on my own mother. Mom had Alzheimer's and continued to get worse until her death in 2000. Mom got to where she did not know us kids, but would tell stories about her youth in Alabama.

I hope there is a positive outcome with this lady from Bonham Texas. This search gave time to reflect on how important our family is, and how fragile it can be also.

Back to the Mountain

Every year around the end of August I try to make the trip back to the Mountain. The mountain is located near Mena Arkansas and is the home of Queen Wilhelmina State Park. From the time I was 10 years old, and we moved to Cove Arkansas, which is located about 15 miles south of Mena. I have always been intrigued by the lure of this mountain. Of course the over two hundred hot rods and classic cars that are there at the end of August does not hurt either.

I can remember when I was young my Dad would load us all up in the VW bus we had, and we would take out on trips through all the back roads up and down the mountains. I was always drawn back to Rich Mountain where the State Park is now located. The lodge started back in 1898 as a resort for the Queen of the Netherlands. It has decayed, burnt, and been rebuilt to the current lodge. You can learn more about this State Park by going to http://www.queenwilhelmina.com/history/default.aspx

The trip up the mountain was fun this year as Casey (my niece's son) and I drove up in the 1955 T-Bird. Just to drive around in this old classic will take you back in time.

I look forward to the trips back to Arkansas. It is a time to remember the good times, and sometime the not so good times. We all need a rock to draw us back into our history, and remind us of where we have been, and who was with us when we were there. My rock is a mountain in Arkansas called Rich Mountain.

Fallen Hero

Last week I was able to participate in two PGR missions for a Paris native Fallen Hero. Sgt. Hoskins was only 24 years old when he was killed in Afghanistan by an IED. Sgt. Hoskins was brought back home on Thursday of last week. The Patriot Guard helped with the escort of this hero from the airport to the funeral home. There were 168 motorcycles in this escort and it was a very moving experience. The part that was the most moving was to see how our small town of about 25,000 had an estimated 10,000 people show up along the 6 mile route to the funeral home.

The funeral for Sgt. Hoskins was on Saturday and it was just as moving. At the cemetery there were full military honors and a local flying group performed a fly over with smoke trails from a formation of three military bird dog planes. I am very thankful for these young heroes who maintain our freedoms we enjoy each and every day. I am also thankful to live in a small town that knows how to show the proper respect for this honorable service man.

I have been to several PGR missions and I enjoy having the ability to show my respect to those who have given their all for our freedom. I do believe with out a doubt this escort last week was the most moving, and had the largest community support I have ever seen.

Nancy News

Well how things can change in a couple of weeks. On the 11th of July I blogged about going to Nancy and Ray's house and having a good visit with them. I talked about all of the things she was doing to get ready for Kai who will be here soon from China. After our visit Nancy called me one day and with a very excited voice told me "she is pregnant". That was not supposed to be able to happen. They had been told by the Doctors that there was no way she was going to get pregnant. Now we have number 13 and number 14 grand babies on the way.

This is such a wonderful blessing, and I know that Nancy will be a good mother to Kai and the new little one due in March. Maw and I look forward to having these wonderful small spirits within a 3 hour drive from Happy Road.

Tour de Paris

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to help with the Tour de Paris here in Paris, TX. There were 800 cyclists that raced in the 15K, 40K, 70K, and 100K races. To help with the event were 450 volunteers. I was one of the volunteers with the local amateur radio club, and we provided communications through out the course. My station was near the end of the race at a road crossing. We were lucky at our location and had no events to report, and all went well. At another location there was a crash that caused several riders to be transported to the hospital. I believe the injuries included broken collar bones, and a possible concussion.

I was so impressed when the lead group of the 100K race went by me. After 70 miles of racing this lead group was around 20 cyclists, and were in perfect tempo at a very fast rate. It was as if a car had just passed with a pronounced swoosh.

When I was setting up my shade, generator, fan, boom box, radios, and getting ready for the long day I was assisted by the missionaries who came by before starting their day of teaching.

I enjoyed this day and I think it is a great opportunity for the community of Paris Texas.

Kids come to visit

Well this weekend we had the M's come to visit from McKinney. Mitchell is going to EFY in San Antonio this week. EFY is a very spiritual training event for young people in our church. We are so proud of Mitchell and the decisions he is making. He is getting to be such a tall, handsome young man. This is a picture of Mitchell taking his bag out to the car and Mason trying to go with him. Mason really loves his big brother.

We had dinner on Saturday with everyone and our Church Missionaries who are working in our area as part of their 2 year mission. Then I dropped off the Missionaries and we went over to Karol's house and the kids got to try and wear out the swimming pool.

On Sunday we had a good day at Church and then a bunch of the kids and grandkids came to the house for lunch. The Missionaries got another meal because Shelly was to suppose to have them over for lunch today, but she is getting remodeling done on their house. So Maw agreed to help out and it was a great meal with Taco Salad.

I really enjoy it when our kids and grandkids come to visit on Happy road.